Dell S3220DGF can't render text correctly at 165Hz, only at 60hz.

[santyclaws]

So I received my S3220DGF yesterday - so far, so good... Ish Looks great doing pretty much everything other than rendering text. I've been trying to figure out what the problem is here but can't find a solution...

I've found the problem is EXTREMELY pronounced with red text on a dark background - this is what I'm talking about: https://imgur.com/yMe5zCy

The only difference is 60hz vs 165hz in that image... Is my display faulty? Is it a driver issue? Any advice is hugely appreciated!!

Some other details:

GSYNC is enabled on my GPU (GTX 1070) Freesync is enabled on the monitor Turning them off changes nothing.

& I'm using the bundled DisplayPort cable that came with the monitor.

[AndreiArgeanu]

There's a couple of things you can try.

1st - try using only the monitor with the issue

2nd- reinstall the drivers (remember to use DDU to fully remove them)

3rd- try a different refresh rate

4th- try a different display port on your card

[santyclaws]

39 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

There's a couple of things you can try.

1st - try using only the monitor with the issue

2nd- reinstall the drivers (remember to use DDU to fully remove them)

3rd- try a different refresh rate

4th- try a different display port on your card

1st - No luck

2nd - No luck

3rd - The only options I have are 60 or 165hz. If i set a custom resolution in the Nvidia control panel for 144hz, the screen blacks out and displays no image. So I started gradually setting resolutions with various refresh rates starting at 60hz. The highest I could go was 137hz, and after that, the screen blanks out at every resolution EXCEPT 165hz. However, at 137hz, the text rendering issue is gone. 

4th - No luck. 

 

Edit: Thanks btw!! Appreciate it. Any thoughts on how to fix the rendering issue at 165hz?

[AndreiArgeanu]

Other text does seem to be fine though. You should try look around the settings of the monitor to see whether there's some kind of option that causes this, like image enhancing and what not.

[santyclaws]

31 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Other text does seem to be fine though. You should try look around the settings of the monitor to see whether there's some kind of option that causes this, like image enhancing and what not.

Other text is generally poor also at 165hz, it's rendered with less fidelity overall - it's just an extreme effect on dark bg red text. For now I'll keep the display at 137hz and try some other tests later today. 

 

[santyclaws]

And.. easy fix. The included Dell DisplayPort cable wasn't capable of displaying a full 165hz signal, but Dell must have rigged up some ability for the monitor to forcibly display 165hz (164 with free/gsync enabled) with a displayport cable attached no matter what. 

 

Just swapped the cable for a DP1.4 cable (the bundled cable is 1.2), and the problem is resolved, now running full resolution at 164hz with zero text rendering problems. 

 

As an aside note for anyone finding this thread in the future: The included HDMI cable was able to display full resolution at 144hz, but not anything higher. This also means you will not be able to fully enable freesync or gsync, as this requires a DP cable. 



 

[AndreiArgeanu]

18 hours ago, santyclaws said:

*snip*

I wanted to ask about the cable but I'd imagine the manufacturer would include a potent enough cable to take advantage of all the features of the monitor

[SolarNova]

23 hours ago, santyclaws said:

So I received my S3220DGF yesterday - so far, so good... Ish Looks great doing pretty much everything other than rendering text. I've been trying to figure out what the problem is here but can't find a solution...

I've found the problem is EXTREMELY pronounced with red text on a dark background - this is what I'm talking about: https://imgur.com/yMe5zCy

The only difference is 60hz vs 165hz in that image... Is my display faulty? Is it a driver issue? Any advice is hugely appreciated!!

Some other details:

GSYNC is enabled on my GPU (GTX 1070) Freesync is enabled on the monitor Turning them off changes nothing.

& I'm using the bundled DisplayPort cable that came with the monitor.

Make sure at that resolution and refresh that its not changing the Chroma settings. The higher the res and refresh the more bandwidth is needed, if u go above the bandwidth capable for the connection/cable being used it may automatically reduce the subsampling sittings down to 4:2:2 or 4:2:0.

 

Make sure ur running 4:4:4.

 

Check out the below link for further details on the affects chroma subsampling on text.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/chroma-subsampling